My Aunt, Yee, planned to take the Grandies out for a treat at the new Guild House's Chinese restaurant. I've heard much about the good food at this place, and have been wanting to check it out. Together with my Uncle Mike and wife, Chris, we met for lunch there yesterday.
Chubbs and Fuzzy were decked out in identical outfits. Levis, navy blue polo tees, and brown shoes.
The food was very good. One of the better Chinese restaurants we have been to in a while, comparable to the big names like Peach Garden and East Ocean. We ordered dim sum as starters. All the dumplings boasted fresh ingredients and were well-made. For mains, we had Peking duck, fried string beans with minced pork, deep-fried chicken with mango and Thai dressing, steamed catfish with green ginger, and Ee-fu noodles cooked the duck meat. For dessert, it was steamed buns with salted egg-yolk custard (Fuzzy and my favourite!!!) and mango, pomelo and sago cream. Overall, every dish tasted great. The only one we were not so impressed with, was the duck noodles. It lacked seasoning, and was bland even after adding soya sauce to it.
The family had lots of fun there, with Chubbs sitting beside his spiffily-dressed Great-Grandpa and playing with him throughout. He was also happily helping himself to the snacks I packed, eating non-stop till he finished everything. Yummy good times!
It has been a few days of endless eats, and we were feeling bloated when we reached home. So I suggested to Fuzzy that we bring Chubbs out for a walk after he has his early dinner, so that we can relieve our stomachs and get some fresh air before we resume eating later. We were due for a buffet dinner. Yes, you read me right. Buffet.
Anyway, we went on a trainer shopping trip with Yee some weeks back, and this was the debut for our new trainers. I needed a new pair (remember the hiking incident?) and Fuzzy wanted a new look to encourage him to start an exercise routine. It was one of the least hazy days so far (we could actually see our neighbour's house) and cloudy sky and light breeze was perfect for our walk-about. Fuzzy carried Chubbs in our hiking harness, and we walked for an hour, reaching Rebecca Road and back. It was so relaxing and fun that Fuzzy declared," I could do this everyday!" Yeah...
Back onto the topic of food. Dinner was at Swissotel Stamford's Plaza Market Cafe to celebrate my M-I-L's birthday; they are currently featuring Peranakan food for their buffet. Fuzzy and I are not buffet eaters. The quality and freshness of ingredients seem to always be compromised. But this time around, the food was actually good! Not so delicious that it leaves you longing for more, but it wasn't half bad. There was prata and Indian curry, popiah, wanton mee, laksa, fresh cold seafood, mutton rendang, ayam buah keluak, grilled pork belly, spicy sauteed frog's legs, etc. for main course. I loved the grilled pork belly and ate way too much of that. I surprised myself by enjoying some frog's legs too.
The star at the dessert table was the durian paste. Everyone loved it, and ate more than one serving. But I kept my distance because Chubbs isn't fond of milk that reeks of durian, and I generally don't eat anything made with durian, only durian itself. I'm a purist and I don't appreciate others handling the flesh before I eat it. The rest of the dessert was your regular Nonya fare and typical buffet cakes like chocolate mousse, etc.
Chubbs entertained himself by playing peek-a-boo with the lady who was manning the laksa station, and eating his snacks.
So busy watching the lady cook laksa, that he won't look at me.
A waitress handed him a flag too, and he busied himself smashing it around, whacking it against the side of his highchair, and trying to poke his, and everyone else's, eyes out.
During our drive home, I told Fuzzy that I felt full. He laughed and said,"You should be. We ate too much this weekend." That may just be the understatement of the year.
